Key Issues

The numbers are staggering...

• About 795,000 Americans suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year.
• Stroke kills more than 128,000 people a year, making it the 4th leading cause of death.
• More than $38 billion is spent each year on stroke-related medical costs and disability.

Yet, many Americans still do not know their risk factors or how to spot a stroke in order to respond quickly in the event of an emergency.

To help raise awareness, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (OH-3) has introduced a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives to recognize May as National Stroke Awareness Month. As a stroke survivor herself, she understands the impact this disease has on so many Americans, of all ages, races, and ethnicities, and is urging her colleagues in Congress to join her in showing their support.

And we can help! Please send a quick email to your Representative right now to ask him/her to add their name to the National Stroke Awareness Month resolution before April 30th.

Remember, together we can end stroke!

The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association have joined with the Ad Council to launch their first national multimedia public service advertising campaign (PSA) to raise awareness about F.A.S.T., an acronym for recognizing and responding to the sudden warning signs of stroke.

When you can spot the signs, you'll know quickly that you need to call 9-1-1 for help. This is important because the sooner a stroke victim gets to the hospital, the sooner they'll get treatment. And that can make a remarkable difference in their recovery.

F.A.S.T. is:

Face Drooping Does one side of the face droop or is it numb? Ask the person to smile.

Arm Weakness Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?

Speech Difficulty Is speech slurred, are they unable to speak, or are they hard to understand? Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence, like "the sky is blue." Is the sentence repeated correctly?

Time to call 911 If the person shows any of these symptoms, even if the symptoms go away, call 9-1-1 and get them to the hospital immediately.

Help spread the word by sharing this infographic, video PSA, or Facebook cover photo with your friends and family today! 

Visit the Together to End Stroke webpage for more information.

It’s time to welcome the 113^th Congress!  We all know the best welcomes are personal, so we’re asking You’re the Cure advocates to introduce themselves to their members of Congress by recording a video and uploading it to Facebook.

We’re calling it the “Hello, my name is ____” campaign.  We want your elected officials to know you and your heart or stroke story- and to remember it when they vote this year.  When you record your video, consider using this script (and try to keep your video to about 60 seconds!):

 “Hi my name is [your name] from [City, State].”

 “I am passionate about policy changes that can help improve cardiovascular health in this country because [tell your story].”

 “Now that I’ve shared my story with you, I have one question for you: Will you remember me when you vote this year?”

Watch an example from our National Grassroots Director, Clarissa Garcia:

(Please visit the site to view this video)

Once you’ve recorded your video on your phone, tablet, or camera, save it and upload it to Facebook. To upload your video to Facebook:

1. Scroll to the top of your Facebook homepage where your status box is.
2. Click Add Photos/Video.
3. Click Upload Photos/Video.
4. Select your video from the location you saved it to on your computer or mobile device.
5. Write a post for your video.  Make sure to ‘tag’ your Representative and Senators and our American Heart Association: You’re the Cure page!  We recommend using this caption:

Hello, @[Enter your lawmakers names starting with an “@” symbol to tag their accounts], my name is [your name], and I’m an @[American Heart Association: You’re the Cure] advocate. Here’s why I support heart-healthy and stroke-smart public policies. Will you remember me when you vote this year?

(Note: Use our Legislator Search tool to identify your Representative and Senators.  You’ll need to “Like” their Facebook pages in order to ‘tag’ them with your video.)

If you’re unable to upload a video, there’s another easy way to introduce yourself to your legislators. Simply share your story by sending a personalized email today!

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to let us know at advocacydc@heart.org. 

We can’t wait to see your videos. Thanks for being the cure!

As the world welcomed 2013 this week, a serious deadline loomed for stroke patients on Medicare.  The Medicare therapy caps ‘exceptions process’ was set to expire on December 31st, 2012, putting beneficiaries at risk of not being able to access the physical, speech, and occupational therapies they may need. 

However, the last minute deal by Congress to avoid the ‘fiscal cliff’, called the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, included a provision supported by the AHA/ASA that extends the Medicare therapy caps exceptions process for one year, until December 31, 2013. This provision will once again help ensure that Medicare beneficiaries who have a stroke will be able to access medically-necessary therapy services even after the limits have been reached.

Thank you to the advocates who answered our call to action to push Congress for a resolution on this critical issue! 

As we get ready to welcome the 113^th Congress to Capitol Hill in January, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on all of the activity that took place on key heart and stroke issues this year.  In a tough economic environment, You’re the Cure advocates, like you, helped play critical defense to protect funding and programs that support our shared mission of building healthier lives.

We’re also proud to report that over 34,000 new grassroots advocates joined You’re the Cure this year, making our unified voice that much stronger in our communities, our states, and in the nation’s capital.  And what a noise we made!  Advocates took over 350,000 actions this year, from sending emails and making phone calls, to attending events and meeting with lawmakers, and more.   

Thank you for your hard work to influence Congress in 2012.  We’re excited to make even more progress in 2013!

For most people, the end of the year is a joyous time, filled with anticipation for the New Year. However, for millions of stroke patients on Medicare and their families, this is a time of worry.

That’s because, unless Congress acts by December 31st, unfair caps on their rehabilitation coverage will kick in on January 1st, leaving patients with extremely limited access to critical therapy services and facing steep out-of-pocket costs. Will you take a minute to speak-up for stroke patients and ask your legislators to prevent this from happening now?

Following a stroke, speech, physical, and occupational therapies are necessary for many survivors to regain their ability to walk, talk, and carry out daily activities again. But the arbitrary, annual limits soon to be placed on these treatments for Medicare beneficiaries threaten their recovery.

That’s why we need Congress to swing into action now and either repeal the caps or extend the Medicare therapy caps “exceptions process”, which has allowed patients needing additional therapy to access the care they need. Send a quick email today to help keep this urgent issue at the front of lawmakers’ minds during this busy time on Capitol Hill.

Continuing their “Real Stories, Real Reforms” series, Georgetown University Health Policy Institue's CHIRblog presents the second profile of everyday people across the country who will – or have already – benefited from new consumer protections under the Affordable Care Act.  Meet Henry, a pediatric stroke survivor, and learn about his family’s struggle to obtain affordable, quality insurance and how the Affordable Care Act may help.

Losing health care coverage just before your due date is not something you read about in “What to Expect When Expecting.”  Who would expect to lose their health insurance just when they needed it the most, but that is just what happened to a family from Plain, Wisconsin.  When other expectant parents were putting finishing touches on the nursery or picking up a few more diapers, Beth and Aaron Ferstl were grappling with news that Aaron had lost his job and with it, his family’s health insurance.

Aaron was laid off on January 16, 2009.  He and his wife assumed their family’s health insurance coverage purchased through his employer would cover them through the end of the month. Beth’s due date was less than a week away, so if all went smoothly, Beth and Aaron were hopeful their new baby would be born while they were still insured.

But life doesn’t always go as planned and their new baby came a couple of weeks after Beth’s due date.  They also received the shocking news that their health insurance coverage was cancelled the day Aaron lost his job. Under a federal law known as COBRA, workers who lose or leave their job are eligible to continue their coverage in their former employer’s health plan, as long as they pay the full premium. So with money from their savings and lots of help from family, Beth and Aaron scraped enough together to pay the high-cost COBRA premiums to continue their coverage.

Unfortunately, their bad luck did not end there.  Shortly after delivery, their newborn son Henry began seizing and stopped breathing. His doctors soon determined that Henry had suffered a stroke in utero, the result of a blood clot that lodged itself solidly in the left side of his brain.  Visit the CHIRblog to read the Ferstl family's full story.

Donna Arnett, Ph.D., MSPH, has worn many hats- nurse, researcher, epidemiologist, volunteer, public health advocate- and now, President of the American Heart Association.  Having dedicated her career to understanding how diseases affect various populations, her leadership, expertise, and passion will be a valuable asset as the AHA continues to work toward its goal of improving the cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20 percent while reducing deaths from cardiovascular diseases and stroke by 20 percent, by the year 2020.

In her role as President, Dr. Arnett has made it her mission to encourage every person and group she meets with to take small steps toward a healthier life.  “We know so much about how to protect cardiovascular health and that by following a healthy lifestyle and preventing risk factors from developing, much of cardiovascular disease and stroke can be prevented,” she shared. 

And as a researcher and a concern citizen, Dr. Arnett knows the impact she can have as a You’re the Cure advocate too.  She has been an active advocate for years, helping to educate her lawmakers about the importance of funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which has made much of her research possible, and pushing for policy changes that promote prevention.

“Advocacy is critical for us to reach our 2020 goal.  To make large population changes, we need to have policies that address whole populations, including making healthy foods more available and affordable, creating infrastructure to support physical activity in schools, and making cities more ‘walkable’,” she said.  “And we need NIH research to find the best and most cost-effective treatments for those who already have heart disease or stroke.”

That’s why Dr. Arnett is calling on all AHA volunteers to join the organization’s advocacy efforts.  “It’s fast, easy, and effective.  Combining your voice with the thousands of other AHA voices is a powerful tool, and highlights the foundational principles of our democracy.”

In addition to serving her two-year term as President of the AHA, Dr. Arnett is the Chairperson of the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett helped cap off a successful Stroke Month by signing critical legislation that will help improve stroke care across his state. This exciting win would not have been possible without the dedication of You’re the Cure advocates, who have been working to pass stroke legislation in the state for more than six years.

The new law, which directs the Department of Health to recognize hospitals which have achieved national certification for stroke care and requires the Department’s Bureau of EMS to adopt specific measures to promote better response rates and quality of care for stroke patients, takes effect on July 28^th.

It was the drum beat of grassroots advocates that kept the bill alive in the state legislature. Since May 2011, they sent over 3,600 emails to their legislators and attended nearly 100 face-to-face meetings. Advocates even gathered at the state capital in February to make sure the issue was front and center in lawmakers minds.

Cindy Flynn, a four-time stroke survivor and the 2011 National Survivor-Advocate of the Year– was instrumental in convincing the Senate Majority Leader to be a champion for legislation. His support was critical to getting the bill across the finish line.

The AHA/ASA is also proud of the partnerships formed throughout the campaign, including the Hospital and Healthsystem Association and the Penn State Hershey Medical Center.

Congratulations to the entire Pennsylvania You’re the Cure team who demonstrated to all of us that persistence pays off!

On June 6th, over 40 You’re the Cure Advocates from 17 key states came to Washington to urge their Members of Congress to protect funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from automatic budget cuts set to occur in January 2013. If the automatic cuts (or sequester) occurs, the NIH could see cuts that total around 8 percent. 

The day started bright and early at a local DC hotel, where advocates and participating staff were welcomed by AHA CEO Nancy Brown and Vice President of Federal Advocacy Sue Nelson. After an impressive group photo, AHA President Dr. Gordon Tomaselli briefed advocates about the funding situation and the damage that the NIH could suffer if the automatic cuts occur.  Stroke survivor Barry Jackson and heart disease survivor Gail Harris-Berry, who are profiled in a complimentary advertisement campaign that is currently running in Capitol Hill newspapers, also shared their personal stories with their fellow advocates, before everyone headed to Capitol Hill for their meetings.

From saving lives to creating jobs, the survivor/researcher pair from each key district were able to give lawmakers their own perspectives on why protecting research funding is critical.   Highlights included 10 year-old Olivia Quigley, accompanied by her father Joe, who shared her story of suffering a sudden cardiac arrest while in gym class with Senator Scott Brown (MA).  And the Hodge Family, including Maddie Hodge who was born with a supraventricular tachycardia and is alive today due to medial research, who met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid from Nevada.  In total, advocates helped deliver the "research saves lives" message to 62 congressional offices!   

Check out the You’re the Cure Facebook page for continual updates and photos of the event!

Washington, D.C., Mar. 15, 2012 — American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown issued the following comments on the new National Tobacco Education Campaign, unveiled today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

“The CDC’s new tobacco education campaign could not come at a better time. The painfully real accounts of former smokers featured in these ads will focus public attention on the devastating health effects of tobacco use, encourage current smokers to quit and help strongly combat the tobacco industry’s efforts to foster a new generation of addicts.

About one-third of smoking-related deaths in the United States are linked to cardiovascular disease. The stories of two Americans included in this campaign, who suffered from a heart attack and a stroke as a result of smoking, are harrowing examples of how tobacco can ruin an individual’s health. The ads highlight a shocking but very realistic fate that could await some current smokers if they continue their tobacco addiction. As the ads emphasize, smoking contributes to 1 in 5 strokes, and your chances of having a heart attack increase every time you light up.

The Surgeon General’s report released last week points to strong evidence that tobacco-education media campaigns can help reduce the number of smokers in this country. The American Heart Association believes these graphic ads, coupled with vigorous tobacco control at the state level, will reach not only the adults who smoke, but also will break through to teens and discourage them from ever taking up this deadly habit.”

Visit the CDC website or click the video below to see these compelling ads for yourself!

On January 21st, Senator Mark Kirk from Illinois had a stroke at the age of 52. Only 15 weeks later, his recovery has been described as “excellent” by his doctor in an article in the Chicago Tribune. Sen. Kirk’s ongoing recovery shows how important medical research is to stroke recovery.

Sen. Kirk also penned a letter-to-the- editor describing his stroke and recovery.

“Early detection is key to survival,” said Kirk. “My staff and I are working on a legislative package to help with early detection and prevention programs.”

The American Heart Association’s advocacy volunteers are called You’re the Cure advocates for a reason. On February 24^th, 70 outstanding volunteers brought their passion, stories, and expertise to the White House for the Community Leaders Briefing on Cardiovascular Health. This special event was an important opportunity for high level administration officials to hear from heart disease and stroke patients, caregivers, medical professionals, and community health leaders and discuss the role of public policy in building healthier lives free of cardiovascular disease and stroke.

The most powerful part of the day was the town hall meeting with Jon Carson, White House Director of Public Engagement, as advocates spoke-up to share their stories, such as:

• Dr. Willie Lawrence, a cardiologist from Kansas, who described saving a woman’s life using hands-only CPR while dining out the night before the event. He stressed the need for a public trained in CPR and improved access to AEDs.
• Emery Miller, a teenage congenital heart defect survivor from Arizona, who talked about his upcoming fifth heart surgery and his efforts to inspire other youth in his community to not let challenges hold them back.
• Ruth Caruthers, a caregiver from West Virginia, who expressed the pain of losing her infant son, Corbin, to heart defects last year. In his honor, she is now leading an advocacy effort to get her state legislature to pass a bill that would require every newborn to be tested for heart defects.

Other event highlights included:

•  An East Wing tour of the White House.
• Listening sessions on the Million Hearts Initiative, the Affordable Care Act, National Institutes of Health research, and efforts to reduce health disparities.
• A “tweet-up” with advocates and Jon Carson.
• Roundtable discussions on clean air policy, childhood obesity and nutrition policy, and tobacco control policy.

The commitment of our volunteers shined throughout the event as they asked the tough questions and spoke about their local advocacy work. The American Heart Association looks forward to a continued dialogue with the administration as we work to advance heart-healthy and stroke-smart legislation and regulations.

Follow all of the action as it happened on Storify!

For more event pictures, visit www.flickr.com/amheartadvocacy.

You’re the Cure advocates and AHA volunteers have had an exciting day participating in the White House Community Leaders Briefing on Cardiovascular Health on February 24, 2012. During the town hall session led by Director of Public Engagement, Jon Carson, some very powerful stories were shared. Here are some highlights.

• Lisa Deck, a three-time stroke survivor in her 30s, shared her story and asked how survivors like her can help the administration spread the word about the Affordable Care Act.

• Dr. Willie Lawrence, a cardiologist practicing in Kansas City, KS shared his incredible experience of saving a woman while dining out in D.C. the night before the event. CPR saved the life of an otherwise healthy woman who collapsed in the restaurant.

• Emery Miller, 13 year old youth advocate from Phoenix, AZ, shared his story of being born with a congenital heart defect. Throughout his young life, Emery has had four open heart surgeries, and his fifth is scheduled not long after returning home from Washington, D.C.

• Ruth Caruthers shared her heart-breaking story having lost her son Corbin just four-months after birth due to multiple heart defects. Ruth has worked tirelessly as an advocate to support legislation in West Virginia that would require pulse oximetry screening for all newborns. This inexpensive test can detect heart defects and save lives. The legislation has already passed the House and now moves on to the Senate for consideration.

These are just a few of the stories shared at the town hall. Jon Carson closed the event by sharing that although several other similar briefings have been held the Cardiovascular Health session was the most impactful. Great work You’re the Cure advocates and AHA volunteers!

Minnesota You’re the Cure advocate Stevie Nelson stopped by a local news station and told his story about surving a stroke and his upcoming trip to Washington, D.C. for the White House Community Leaders Briefing on Cardiovascular Health.

After surviving a stroke, Nelson found a new life mission by volunteering with the American Heart Association and will sharing his story with top Obama Administration Officials tomorrow in D.C.

Watch his appearance now!

History was made today. Right in the midst of American Heart Month, the United States Postal Service unveiled a new Heart Health Forever® stamp during a commemorative ceremony in Washington, DC. The stamp was designed to help raise awareness of the nation’s No. 1 killer, heart disease. Since 2001, the American Heart Association has been advocating for this stamp and today the USPS delivered.

“We want to thank the United States Postal Service for creating this exciting new stamp that will help us advance our mission to build healthier lives free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke,” said Barry Franklin, Ph.D., Chairman of the American Heart Association National Advocacy Coordinating Committee. “This stamp is a reminder to all Americans that embracing healthier lifestyle changes today can improve all your tomorrows.”

U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe and Dr. Stuart Seides, Executive Director of MedStar each spoke about the importance of the new stamp and how the image communicates the feelings of wellness and vitality that comes from physical activity and a well-balanced diet.

You can pick up your Heart Health Forever® stamp at the post office today and begin spreading heart health awareness whenever you mail a letter, a birthday card or even your electric bill!

Also, click here to watch a short clip from the ceremony!

Check out this video below from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that recaps 2011. In this video, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius speaks about the Million Hearts Campaign, which the American Heart Association is a proud member. The Campaign aims to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes over the next five years.

Click to see the video!